SRI LANKA 243(74 OVERS)

2ND INNINGS

END OF OVER:

74 | 2 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 243/10

A Dananjaya8 (28b)

MJ Leach28-2-83-5

MM Ali19-2-72-4

10.41pm So, that is the end of the presentations. What a remarkable series performance from England. And there's still the finale in Colombo to come. Thanks for all your comments. From all of us here, thanks for tuning in. George Dobell's match report will appear here shortly, and come back later for all the post-match analysis.

Joe Root is the Man of the Match. "A brilliant Test match, we were very good for the whole game, at times under pressure but I couldn't be more proud. We lost clusters of wickets but stayed calm and got control back in our favour. We came through some close games in the summer against India.

"Our guys have worked hard on their close catching, some dynamic guys in Ben and Jos and the others have followed suit."

"We've came out saying we wanted to play some bold, courageous cricket, and we've worked extremely hard. We've got to keep looking to improve, we are not the finished article, we want to get to No.1 in the world, keep that drive, and harness that."

"You've seen teams in the past ease off [after a series win], but we want to back it up."

10.36am Time for some presentations. Here's Suranga Lakmal. "A good game on a challenging wicket. It was a turning wicket in both innings, but we were unlucky in this match. The last three wickets was very good cricket.." Afraid my Sinhalese can't keep up with his next answer, but he's keeping his chin up, it's fair to say.

10.30am CricViz chips in with a killer stat: "England's spinners took 19 of the 20 wickets in the match. It's the fifth time in Tests that England have taken so many wickets through spin and the first time since Mumbai in 2012. It's only the 11th time in Test history that no England seamer has taken a wicket in a match (excluding matches in which England didn't bowl). This match is the first time since 1973 in Karachi that no seamer has taken a wicket in a Test for England."

10.27am ss: "Man of the Match - JImmy Anderson for adding 101 runs with Curran/Foakes across both innings! :)" Can't argue with his contribution with the bat. A rare blank in the wickets column for England's old stager. Wonder if he'll be given a blow for the final match?

10.24am England's players are off on a lap of honour. "It's been a blast," says Ben Foakes. "It's going alright so far, as long as we win games, I'm happy. It's a really relaxed environment, you come in and get told to do it your own way."

10.22am England's three spinners are speaking to Sky Sports. "There were periods I found it good and some were hard," says Leach. "There were tougher moments, but that's Test cricket."

"Things change quickly," says Rashid. "I'm pleased to be part of this team."

"It was a good team performance," says Moeen. Can't argue with any of those sentiments.

10.19am A maiden five-wicket haul for Jack Leach, four for Moeen Ali - a grand total of 38 wickets to the spinners in this match, which is the most in history. And shockingly, it is England who have prevailed!

Handshakes all round as the teams leave the field. What an achievement for England - Sri Lanka are not the force of old, it is true, but they devastated South Africa on home soil not so long ago, and they have been a force to be reckoned with on their own pitches for years. But England's ambitious Test line-up, with more allrounders than they sometimes know what to do with, has given them the depth and the options to do a job on their hosts, and in some style!

73.6

W

Leach to Pushpakumara, OUT, Leach thinks he has his five! Looked for all the world like a bump-ball, but the soft signal is out as Pushpakumara pushes a full length ball straight back to the bowler! Sure enough, that's straight off the toe, a puff of dust as the ball scrapes the turf in doing so, and England have won the Test, and the series, in terrific style!

PM Pushpakumara c & b Leach 1 (9b 0x4 0x6) SR: 11.11

Hammad : "The difference is Curran's innings. Had he been out cheaply in first innings it would have altogether been a different ball game" Can't dispute that!

73.5

0

Leach to Pushpakumara, no run, another massive wind-up, another miss! Down on one knee to sweep but the ball's no longer there